Wringer



Feb. 22, 1944.

N. 1., ETTEN WRINGER Filed May 21, 1941 UNITED Patented Feb. 22, 1944wamona l Nicholas L. Etten, Waterloo, Iowa Application May/21,1941,Serial No. 394,393 a 1' Claims. (of. 88-263) This invention relates towringers and more particularly to a wrlnger release mechanism wherebythe pressure between the rolls may be released by pivotal movement ofthe complete frame either manually or by roll drive torque as.

contrasted with movement ofspecific release con- It is believed by theapplicant that one of the deficiencies of the prior devices has arisenfrom the fact that they have been not only somewhat unsatisfactory inoperation but have been unduly complicated and have thus been extremelyexpensive to build and-incapable of. successfully competing with thepresent commercial structures.

. For example, in most, if not all, of the prior art devices theinventors have attempted to reach their objective by providing a gearframe positively fixed to a wringer column and then enclosing this framein a secondary frame or housing adapted to support the rolls and to movewith respect to the gear frame. This type of construction has requiredthe use of universal joints between the driving gears and the rollshafts and has, of course, required twoseparate and distinct frames,which obviously increased manufacturing costs and detract from theusefulness of the device.

In addition to the disadvantages arising by reason of the manufacturingcosts of the devices, the applicant has found that in any of thearticulated frames disclosed in the prior art the mechanism can bereleased only by a manual push and pull on the frame or roll structureitself and even in the event that the mechanism becomes overloaded tosuch a point as to stop rotation of the rolls and stall the motor, therelease is incapable of actuating itself automatically. It is thereforethe principal object of this invention to provide a wringer wherein thepressure may be released by pivotal movement of the wringer frame, andwherein the construction is characterized by a single unitaryconventional frame structure as contrasted with any type of articulatedframe or frame surrounded by a shiftable housing.

A further object of the invention is to provide leased by shiftingmovement of the gear frame relative to the wringer column as contrastedwith ing in relation to a stationary gear frame.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wringer frame mountedfor relative movement with respect to. a stationary wringer column,wherein a balance spring is provided to prevent motion of the wringerframe in response to the normal torque of the wringer drive shaft, andwherein shiftable release devices are provided to permit the wringerpressure to be released in response to the abnormal torque strains suchas are encountered whenever the wringer reaches an extremely overloadedcondition.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wringer mechanismincluding a wringer mounted in shiftable relationship with a stationarywringer column, a release lever mounted on said 'wringer, and indexingmechanisms associated with said release lever to establish a normalwringer location in any one of several angular positions around thewringer columns.

These and other important objects are accomplished in the presentinvention by the structure disclosed in the drawing accompanying andforming a part of this specification, in which Fig. 1 1s a sideelevation of a preferred embodiment. of the present invention showingcertain parts of the wringer frame structure broken away.

Fig. Z'is an enlarged detailed plan sectional view taken substantiallyon the plane of the line 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed'end elevational view taken substantiallyon the plane of the line 3-3 in Fig. 1;

In the-wringer chosen as illustrative of the principles of thisinvention and disclosed in the drawing, the upper roll it and lower rollI: are mounted for rotation in bearings such as it provided in the endstiles I 4 and I! extending upwardly from the opposite ends of thehorizontal lower channel It. The entire structure thus far described ismounted in fixed relationship with a gear housing I! by a plurality ofbolts l8 and the gear housing I! is arranged to enclose forward andreverse drivingpinions 20 and 2|, a driving gear 22 and a selectiveclutch 23 keyed to the drive shaft 24 and arranged to be moved intoforward or reverse driving positions by a manually operable controlhandle 25.

A roll stop, mechanism such as shown in applicant's Patent 2,307,368 isalso enclosed within the gear housing I] so that the drive to the rollsis automatically interrupted when the pressure between the rolls isreleased.

The operating pressure between the rolls H and I2 is maintained by aflat leaf pressure spring 28 extending between the upper roll bearingsl3 and adapted to be flexed downwardly by a pressure adjusting screw 21mounted on the top frame or cover 28. The cover 28 is pivotally securedto a bracket 23 on the gear case I] by the rivet 3i.

At the opposite end of .the top frame It a toggle reset mechanism isprovided which consists of a manually operable reset lever 32 pivotallyconnected with thetop frame 33 and arranged to cooperate with acompression link 33 extending between an anchor pin 34 affixed tosuitable brackets on the end stile l4 and a pin 3| mounted between theside walls of the lever 33. From the above structure it will be seenthat in order to apply the initial operating pressure between rolls iiand I! it is only necessary to move the lever 33 inwardly so that itwill cooperate with the link 33 and draw thetop frame downwardly tocompress the spring 28 and apply a downward force to the bearings of theupper roll ll.

Shortly before the toggle mechanism reaches its dead center positionthetip 38 of the link 33 will be engaged the latch 31 carried on thevertical slide plate 33. The slide plate 38 is arranged for verticalshifting movement and is urged yieldingly upwardly by the coil spring38.

The wringer mechanisms as thus far described are quite conventional andtherefore will not be described in greater detail. It is to beparticularly noted, however. that the end stiles l4 and I! and channelii are rigidly bolted to the gear housing l'l so that all of theseelements comprise, in effect, a single unitary frame which moves as aunit as contrasted with any of the double frame works or articulatedfname of prior art wringers of this general class.

The entire frame work of the wringer is supported by a sleeve 4| mountedin telescopic recured on the threaded ends of said rods, as shown inFig. 1.

It is to be particularly noted that since the lever 45 has one of thelinks 41 or 48 on either side of the center 48, movement of the lever 43in either direction will cause the latch 41 to release.

In order to operate the lever 45 in response to swinging movements ofthe wringer frame about the wringer column 43, an anchor arm 51 isprovided. The arm 51 is mounted on a sleeve 53 holes 6 I.

At the outer endof the anchor arm 51 an actuating roller 82 is mounted.This roller 82 any typical stationary wringer column such as isordinarily provided on a washing machine, and which ordinarily houses arotatable vertical driving shaft such as the shaft 24 illustrated in thedrawing. By this arrangement the entire wringer structure is free toswing about the wriner column 43. i

It is, however, the purpose of the present invention to provide a normalposition for the wringer and to provide a mechanism such that anydeviation from the normal position will cause the latch 31 to operateand release the pressure between the rolls II and II. To accomplish thisresult a lever is mounted on a stud 43 extending downwardly from thelower surface of the gear housing II, which upon DIV-7 otal movement ofthe housing, actuates associated mechanism to cause the latch 31 torelease. To accomplish this result a pair of operating rods 41 and .43are pivotally connected to the lever 45 and are arranged to extend to abell crank II pivoted on a cross pin 53 attached .to suitable lugs l3 onthe lower surface of the about the cross pin 52 in response to-movementof the lever 45. The rods 41 and 43 extend loosely through suitableapertures in the vertical arm of the lever II and have abutting nuts:se-

extends upwardly from the arm 51 to engage aslot 63 in the lever 45, thearrangement bein such that when the anchor arm 51 is held stationarywith respect tothe wringer column by Q means of the index pin 59, anymovement of the wringer frame will cause the stud 48 and lever 45 toshift with respect to the roller 62 and will thus cause the lever 45 toswing in one direction or the other around the stud 48 so that one ofthe links 41 or will move the bell crank 5i and release the latch 31.

As thus far described, it will be obvious that any external forceoperating on the frame of the wringer or on the wringer rolls will causethe wringer structure to shift with respect to the wringer column 43 andwill release the pressure of the spring 26. It is not desirable,however, that this releasing action take place in response to extremelysmall forces such as may be exerted accidentally in the normal operationof the wringer, and for this reason I provide a center boss 64 at theexternal end of the anchor arm 51 which is adapted to be engaged by apair of centering springs 85 and 66 mounted on 'a pilot rod 81" andextending between the boss 34 and one of a pair oi" lu s 68 orGQf-formed on the lower surface of the horizontal channel member ii ofthe wringer frame It will be seen from examt'ation of Fig. 2 that sincethe boss 84 istngiiihally maintained in a stationary position,;sprlngs65 and 66 will act on the wringer frghi-hndkeenit in 9, normallycentered position, but whenever external forces are exerted on thewringer frame in either direction, one of thesprings or 66 will flexviewed in Fig. 2, so that the torque of the drive shaft tends to movethe wringer frame upwardly 'or in a counter-clockwise direction, as alsothe event the wringer-rolls are overloaded in an.

extreme degree or in such a manner as to stop their rotation, the torquefrom the drive shaft 34 will build up to such an extent that it willbecapable of compressing the spring '8, moving the wringer frame bodilyagainst the action of this spring and releasing the spring pressure bythe action of the lever II, as hereinbefore described.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of thisinvention in compliance with the patent statutes, I am aware that it issubject to numerous modifications and alterations, and therefore I wishto be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim 1. In a wringer, a frame, a plurality of resilient rolls mountedfor rotation within said frame, a spring arranged to urge said resilientpressure rolls into pressure relationship with each other, and a latchto retain said spring in pressure applying position, the combination ofa drive shaft for said rolls, forward and reverse driving gears for saidrolls and means for selectively engaging said gears, shiftable devicesresponsive to the torque of said drive shaft, means responsive toshifting movement of said devices to actuate the aforementioned latch,and spring devices adapted to balance the normal torque of said shaft toprevent said latch from,

releasing responsive to normal torque and to permit release responsiveto extreme torque.

2. In a wringer structure of the releasable roll type having a frame, acolumn on which the frame is selectively adjustably mounted, rolls inthe frame, reversible drive means for the rolls, and means forreleasably applying pressure on said rolls including a reset mechanism;a release mechanism comprising an anchor member con nected to thecolumn, resilient means between the frame and the anchor member fornormally holding the frame in selected position, lever means pivotallyconnected to the frame and to the anchor member and to said resetmechanism and which is movable by an abnormal movement of the framerelative to said anchor member to release said reset mechanism.

3. In a wringer structure of the releasable roll type having a frame, acolumn on which the frame is selectively adjustably mounted, rolls inthe frame, reversible drive means for the rolls, and means forreleasably applying pressure on said rolls including reset mechanism; arelease mechanism comprising an anchor member connected to the column,resilient means between the frame and the anchor member for normallyholding the frame in selected position, lever means pivotally connectedto the frame and to the anchor member and to said reset mechanism andwhich is movable by an abnormal movement of the frame relative to saidanchor member to release said reset mechanism, said resilient meanscomprising springs carried by the frame, and a boss on said anchormember and located between said springs.

4. In a wringer structure of the releasable roll type having a frame, acolumn on which the frame is selectively adiustably mounted, rolls inthe frame, reversible drive means for the rolls, and means forreleasably applying pressure on said rolls including reset mechanism; arelease mechanism comprising an anchor member connected 'to the column,resilient means between the frame and the anchor member for normallyholding the frame in selected position, lever lever means pivotallyconnected to the frame and to the anchor member and to said resetmechanism and which is movable by an abnormal movement of the framerelative to said anchor member to release said reset mechanism, saidresilient means comprising springs carried by the frame, and a-boss onsaid anchor member and located between said springs, one of said springsbeing stronger than the other of said springs to compensate for theforce imposed by the drive means in the normal direction of driving thewringer.

5. In a wringer structure of the releasable roll type having a frame, acolumn on which the frame is selectively adjustably mounted, rolls inthe frame, reversible drive means for the rolls, and means forreleasably applying pressure on said rolls including reset mechanism; arelease mechanism comprising an anchor member connected to the column,resillent means between the frame and the anchor member for normallyholding the frame in selected position, lever means pivotally connectedto the frame and to the anchor member and to said reset mechanism andwhich is movable by an abnormal movement of the frame relative to saidanchor member to release said reset mechanism, said lever meanscomprising a pivot stud carried by the frame, and 'an actuating pivotstud carried by said anchormember.

6. In a wringer structure of the releasable roll type having a frame, acolumn on which the frame is selectively adiustably mounted, rolls inthe frame, reversible drive means for the rolls, and means forreleasably applying pressure on said rolls including resetmechanism; arelease mechanism comprising an anchor member connected to the column,resilient means between the frame and the anchor member for normallyholding the frame in selected position, lever means pivotally connectedto the frame and to the anchor member and to said reset mechanism .andwhich is movable by an abnormal movement of the frame relative to saidanchor member to release said reset mechanism, said lever meanscomprising a lever element pivotally connected to the frame and having aslot, and an actuating pivot stud on said anchor member and extendinginto said slot.

7. In a wringer structure of the releasable roll type having a frame, acolumn on which the frame is selectively adjustably mounted, rolls inthe frame, reversible drive means for the rolls, and means forreleasably applying pressure on said rolls including reset mechanism; arelease mechanism comprising an anchor member connected to the column,resilient means between the frame and the anchor member for normallyholding the frame in selected position, lever means pivotally connectedto the frame and to the anchor member and to said reset mechanism andwhich is movable by an abnormal movement of the frame relative to saidanchor member to release said reset mechanism, said lever meanscomprising a lever element pivotally connected to the frame and having aslot, an actuating pivot stud on said anchor member and extending intosaid slot, and connecting links pivotally connected to said leverelement and to said reset mechanism.

NICHOLAS L. E'I'IEN.

